Arete Vol 2 Spring 2024

Αρετή (Arete) Journal of Excellence in Global Leadership | Vol. 2 No. 1 | 2024

In Van Oosten et al’s. (2017) work with the Leadership Lab for women, the researchers see the need to focus not just on external factors such as gender bias, but also to look at more subtle, invisible factors and to work to develop skills that will help them to persist and succeed. Previous studies have revealed that professional development opportunities can foster career advancement in women (Main et al., 2019). Skills such as self-efficacy, adaptability, and personal vision can all affect women’s ability to persist (Van Oosten et al., 2017). Once in the STEM fields, women who hold PhDs and continue their professional development can internalize leadership roles and reduce gender bias in the workplace (Main et al., 2019). Minorities in STEM benefit from safe spaces where they can receive mentoring, professional development, and other opportunities that can assist in boosting their leadership development opportunities (Jefferson, 2019). Additionally, coaches and mentors are beneficial to women in the STEM fields (Van Oosten et al., 2017). A leadership principle that is highlighted by Strubbe et al. (2022) is the importance of shared ownership and a sense of belonging. This is shown to be important to minorities in STEM and could be a factor related to reducing the imposter phenomenon (Lee et al., 2022). Leadership Leadership is not a position, but rather, a series of actions. The related skills to leadership are defined as communication, teamwork, empathy, critical thinking, trust, and encouragement, among others (Challen, 2020; Liou-Mark, 2018; Main et al, 2019; MacIntrye, 2016; Suleman 2018). Transformational leadership is one method of leading and focuses on motivating, inspiring, and empowering the team and its individual members to exceed their own expectations (Dominguez-Soto et al., 2021; Ntseke et al., 2022). There are significant indicators that transformational leadership is associated with a global mindset (Osland et al., 2006). A global mindset enables leaders to appreciate and adapt to different cultures, perspectives, and challenges while maintaining a clear vision and purpose. By combining transformational leadership with a global mindset, aspiring leaders can amplify their impact and collaborate across borders. Not only that, but it can lead to greater global team effectiveness and cohesion (Ntseke et al., 2022). If transformational leadership development is adopted, this could assist in developing global engineering leaders. However, if students with imposter phenomenon are shown to struggle with transformational leadership, then the need for leadership development will be necessary to find a way to minimize the feeling of imposterism. The use of a global leadership curriculum could provide some of the skills necessary to combat feelings of imposter phenomenon, thus increasing abilities as transformational and global leaders (Gagnon, 2013; Ntseke, 2022).

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